So its that time where I get a new life insurance policy. Naturally they ask about racing. I've had the current policy going on 15 years and they never asked. Anyone ever had issues because of thier car racing?
So its that time where I get a new life insurance policy. Naturally they ask about racing. I've had the current policy going on 15 years and they never asked. Anyone ever had issues because of thier car racing?
My last employers policy forbid any racing activities. I was able to do hose though.
I once got fired because the VP who headed our department didn't like racing........he found out I'd taken a Friday off to go to a stage rally.
After some more research I found some old posts about life insurance.
I made sure to declare that I did small-bore endurance racing, and that made me lose the "best" class rating and I had to pay regular price... oh well, at least if I die they can't refuse my policy because they didn't know!
Not a commercial, but I got mine through Zander. I disclosed that I did sports car racing at the time. They had a few questions and adjusted my rate to be slightly higher. It was no big deal. I took up motorcycle riding some time later which is far more risky IMO but the policy is locked in now so...
I went through this years ago and the key was to specify amateur road racing. It wound up costing me another few dollars a year, literally less than $10. They use actuarial tables to set rates and if you don't specify, they will classify you the same as professional racers such as Indycar.
I was just looking at my policy not long ago. I got it before I was racing. There was a questionaire at the time I enrolled that asked about racing (which I truthfully answered no), but there are no exclusions in the policy for it. I've been told that the amateur racing part is key; much harder to get if you make any money from it and are thus a "professional".
Tom1200 said:I once got fired because the VP who headed our department didn't like racing........he found out I'd taken a Friday off to go to a stage rally.
Sounds like you should sue for race discrimination.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7uW47jWLMiY
Tom1200 said:I once got fired because the VP who headed our department didn't like racing........he found out I'd taken a Friday off to go to a stage rally.
For years I've raced sailboats on Weds nights and would often quit a little early on Wednesdays in the summer months. I once had an employer who frowned on this. I changed the name to Weds Night Golf League and never heard another word mentioned about it.
This was a discussion in one of the track groups back in early 2020 or late 2019. One of the racers was working to get a quote from a company.. i can't remember which one..
The company in question wanted to know, who you raced with and even went down to what class you raced in.
It wasn't a hindrance to getting insurance, but it prompted a similar situation to the OP.
Higher profile deaths: like the gentleman who died racing a vintage open wheel car at CTMP., have caused insurance companies to ask more questions. They want to properly mitigate their risk and it makes sense why they would, different kinds of racing bring much different levels of risk to a life insurance company. Racing modern full cage cars in club racing is different from racing modern formula open cockpit cars. Racing Vintage cars built to older vintage safety requirements is a very different conversation, regardless of being formula cars or full cage vintage cars.
I am fortunate that my life insurance was started 15 years ago before I even started driving, so it has no exemptions for racing, or skydiving for that matter.
I did this twice, once for my work sponsored life policy and again for another term policy. There really was no issue at all, just tell that what you do or reasonably plan to do. Anything at the amateur level is not a concern it seemed. I remember some questions about safety items, etc. that you will want to be able to answer at least to the "minimum required" for whatever you plan to do.
I can sell life insurance so it was pretty easy to shop my own policy. Top speed, and what sanctioning body I raced under seemed to be the two biggest factors. It was mixed on the underwriting, but there were several companies that didn't care about what I was doing (ChumpCar) and the premiums were no different than if I didn't race. So, shop around.
The last time I reupped my policy, I made the mistake(?) of answering truthfully about racing and about having taken some flight instruction when the screener lady called me. It turned into a damn interrogation.
Mr. H: How many times in the last 12 months have you been at a racing facility. (IDK....5-6)
Mr. H: Have you at any time exceed 100Mph in the last 12 mo. (YES)
Mr. H: How many times in the last 12 mo have you exceeded 100MPH on a racing surface? (Approximately 3200 times.)
<stunned silence:> Excuse me?
I said approximately three thousand two hundred times, maam.
~~
I was getting frustrated and she was being a little snotty. I figure I do 200-300 laps per race weekend and usually exceed 100MPH a couple of times per lap. I called my insurance agent and asked if they were trying to run me off. I've been insured with my current agent and current company with all of my insurance for my whole damn life. The fact that I'm in my 40s is far more hazardous to my health than amateur racing. He laughed and wrote me up a policy exclusion-- for the flying, not the racing.
I set up my current Term life insurance policy after I've been racing (stage rally Co-Driver) for a bit, and made sure to ask specifically what they were looking for. In my case, it wasn't a factor. They were looking to see if that was my PROFESSION, and while they did ask about how many events per-year, ultimately it didn't change the underwriting for my policy since my profession is at a desk job.
When I got my term policy I was very honest about everything I was doing at the time (crewing for an endurance racing team, auto-x, track days). The agent had to check on it, but none of it ended up being an issue.
Years later my wife requested that I call him before I went downhill mountain biking for the first time. The answer from my agent was that any hobby I took up after the first year of the policy was none of their business no matter how hazardous to my health it might be. He listed some examples that made my life seem really boring.
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